The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
When timing a sporting event, it is often desired to use passive RFID tags for identifying the proximity of a sporting event participant to a monitored milestone such as a starting line or finish line, for example. The RFID tags are placed on a participant or the participant's vehicle for uniquely identifying the participant and for identifying the passing of the participant at the monitored point. Sporting events often have numerous participants, often more than 1,000, and often more than a few of those participants can be expected to pass by a monitored point nearly simultaneously or within a very short period of time. For example, at a start of a marathon race, nearly all of the participants can pass the starting line within a very short period of time.
However, RFID readers typically do not have the ability to read a large number of RFID tags at sufficient distances so as to not interfere with the participants and that provide for the desired accuracy of tag reads such that nearly all if not all participant tags are read and there are no missed tags.
Additionally, many of the RFID tag reader systems are not suitable for timing races having numerous participants such as marathon races as well as other types of races in a cost effective manner for many such events. For example, many RFID tag reader systems are components that have to be installed on site and wired together for operation at an event.